“The atmosphere was incredible. They were sharing experiences of being entrepreneurs and supporting each other,” Morel says.

At the time she had just set up venture capital fund No 8 Ventures and, while holding the networking event again held appeal, “you get busy and good ideas don’t always get executed”. The idea resurfaced three years later when her investment bank Morel and Co appointed a new chief executive. Holding an annual get-together of the movers and shakers in the tech scene seemed a good marketing platform for him. And it just grew from there.

Morel and Co has closed but Morgo is still going. “It has a life of its own,” Morel says, with something close to resignation. The sixth annual conference, in late August at Waitangi, is invitation-only and limited to 120 people, who will pay $1500 for the two-day programme. Morel covers costs, and raises her profile and that of No 8 Ventures.

You get the impression choosing who’s in and who’s out is one of the more enjoyable, though time consuming, aspects for Morel. A couple of people have been blackballed due to bad behaviour (excessive drunkenness, and groping at the bar). Consultants are out; entrepreneurs in.

True to form, Morel is also considering how to make Morgo grow. Ideas include what else this community of go-getters might like to do together, perhaps online. And she wants to widen the net beyond technology to the founders or top executives of other high-growth companies.

The audience at Morgo is always more important than the speakers, and many of those have been impressive. Most of them simply tell their war stories. Last year’s hit speaker was Mike Cannon-Brookes, the young co-founder of Australian software company Atlassian and 2006 Australian Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. His company now employs 200 people and has annual sales revenue of US$35 million. His take was that Australians can learn a lot from the way Kiwis support each other.

“It was interesting to chat about problems with the New Zealand internet crew. They see the world a bit differently than we do in Australia,” Cannon-Brookes says. “There seems to be a lot more co-operation than in Australia, more camaraderie. Maybe it’s being from a small country, I don’t know.” Inspired by his partner’s feedback, Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar is attending Morgo this year.

Xero founder Rod Drury has been three or four times and says it is one of the better events to do quality relationship-building with his peers, because it is held overnight out of the main centres. New Zealanders like to learn from other people’s experiences and the overseas speakers have “always been interesting”, he says. “I’ve made numerous business contacts through Morgo.”

Morel says although 75 to 80% of the audience has been to Morgo before, it is important to keep growing the list of attendees. “One of the things I really like about New Zealand, it is easy to find people with the get up and go to start something.”

There’s always the perennial fear for event organisers that this year will be the one when disaster strikes; people won’t come, they’ll be bored – whatever. The real test, Morel says, is seeing people register so you know you’re getting the critical mass you need. The opening night networking dinner is the second point at which you know whether you’ve succeeded or not. “You can tell by the noise level at that dinner if people are really mixing.”